Asbestos seen as new threat from TPC fire

Smoke from the fires that continue to burn at the TPC chemical plant in Port Neches Friday morning are veiled behind a heavy fog. Officials announced late Friday morning that the evacuation order and curfew have been lifted as the fire has been contained and potential for catastrophic explosions abated. Photo taken Friday, November 29, 2019 Kim Brent/The Enterprise less

Smoke from the fires that continue to burn at the TPC chemical plant in Port Neches Friday morning are veiled behind a heavy fog. Officials announced late Friday morning that the evacuation order and curfew ... more

Photo: Kim Brent, The Enterprise

Photo: Kim Brent, The Enterprise

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Smoke from the fires that continue to burn at the TPC chemical plant in Port Neches Friday morning are veiled behind a heavy fog. Officials announced late Friday morning that the evacuation order and curfew have been lifted as the fire has been contained and potential for catastrophic explosions abated. Photo taken Friday, November 29, 2019 Kim Brent/The Enterprise less

Smoke from the fires that continue to burn at the TPC chemical plant in Port Neches Friday morning are veiled behind a heavy fog. Officials announced late Friday morning that the evacuation order and curfew ... more

Photo: Kim Brent, The Enterprise

Asbestos seen as new threat from TPC fire

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An evacuation order for Port Neches was lifted on Friday, but residents were warned of continued danger from smoke and asbestos releases from this week’s explosions and fire at the TPC Group chemical plant.

Jefferson County Judge Jeff Branick, head of local emergency response efforts, said the second of two blasts at the plant on Wednesday compromised a vessel that contained asbestos, a once-popular fire retardant that is now banned because prolonged exposure can cause fatal lung diseases.

It was the first time asbestos was mentioned publicly as a risk from the massive industrial accident.

“This facility was begun during the ’40s and there was some asbestos, either some blanket pipe coverings or block that was installed,” Branick said during a news conference that included emergency personnel, local mayors and TPC representatives. “One of the vessels that was compromised and had an explosion could have sent that asbestos in the neighborhoods and yards of Port Neches, or even Nederland and Port Arthur.”

Officials seemed most concerned about a spread of the white, chalky substance from the second blast, which occurred about 1:45 p.m. Wednesday and sent a tower flying into the air. An evacuation order for a 4-mile radius around the plant was issued shortly afterward. It is believed to have affected up to 50,000 residents in Port Neches and three surrounding communities.

The original blast, shortly after 1 a.m., was more powerful and blew out windows and doors at homes near the plant.

Returning residents who think they see any asbestos in or near their home should call the 866-601-5880 claims hotline established by TPC Group to report it, said Troy Monk, the company’s director of health, safety and security.

Some roads closest to the plant remained sealed off Friday night to ensure firefighter access to water lines. Checkpoints were set up in nearby residential areas to allow residents or contractors to get to damaged homes while preventing onlookers from making their way to the plant itself.

Affected roads and streets include Spur 136, near the plant’s entrance on FM 366, and portions of Magnolia Avenue, Hogaboom Road, Grigsby Avenue and Main Street.

As cooler weather and rain were expected Friday night, residents were also warned that some residents could experience lung and throat irritation, nausea or headaches associated with the smoldering fire, which Branick and others described as contained.

“There is still going to be smoke in the air,” Monk said. “There are still going to be flames visible at night.”

School officials, meanwhile, are preparing for the resumption of classes after the Thanksgiving break.

Port Neches-Groves Superintendent Mike Gonzales said classes there would be canceled Monday after three schools were reported to have been damaged in the initial blast. Staff would meet Sunday to further assess the situation.

The Port Arthur and Nederland school districts announced students would return to class on Monday.

Information released Friday night offered new details about how many tanks were affected by the fire and what they contained, although response crews were still unable to confirm just how much of each chemical had been burned off.

The plant has 102 spherical storage tanks and cylindrical atmospheric storage tanks on site at the time of the fire but only 88 had contents, according to preliminary estimates relayed by Payton Keith, a spokesman working on behalf of TPC Group.

The 71 highly pressurized spherical tanks in service contained either raffinate, butadiene, heavy polyblends and a gas mixture of unrefined petrochemicals called crude C4, Keith said.

Nine of those tanks experienced some level of impact, from smoke discoloration to some kind of combustion. One holding raffinate completely ruptured, Keith said. He said the contents appeared to have completely burned off at the time.

There were also 17 tanks that contained chemicals at lower pressure levels. That included methanol; the fuel additive MTBE, stored for the nearby Huntsman plant; and a water-treatment chemical for TPC; and a solvent called NMP, Keith said.

Two of the tanks that stored NMP were believed to have ruptured at the time of the initial explosion centered around the butadiene processor and the other 15 were unaffected.

No representatives from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency were available during the briefing, but Monk and Branick reiterated that no elevated levels of harmful compounds had been detected during air monitoring.

None of 207 test sites monitored Thursday and Friday found any signs of volatile organic compounds, the EPA reported. Two sites in Beaumont, on College Street and U.S. 90, had traces of hydrogen cyanide, but it was not clear where that came from.

Officials also confirmed for the first time that a private contractor had been deployed to do water testing in the area, especially around the nearby Neches River.

Firefighting crews on Friday began attacking blazes within the facility itself, a sign of confidence that the threat of further explosions had been greatly reduced.

Of the mayors whose towns were in the 4-mile evacuation zone, reactions were mixed.

Groves Mayor Brad Bailey said he felt his city had been kept well informed. “I encourage other agencies to learn from and imitate the response to this incident,” he said.

Port Arthur Mayor Thurman Bartie thanked first-responders but expressed concern about potential health effects from the plume of smoke that lingered over the northern edge of his city for a day and a half.

“The main concern we have in Port Arthur now is air quality,” Bartie said. “TCEQ, as far as I’ve been informed, says we are OK. Now, as time progresses and if that changes, we will let you know.”